When he first stepped onto the UMass Boston campus Nao Masamoto
had only lived in the United States for a year after his family's
migration from his native Japan and could not speak English very
well, but he could play baseball extremely well. The middle
infielder made the Beacon nine as a walk-on during his freshman
season and soon became the team's starting shortstop, while setting
school-records for at-bats and assists in a season and ranking
second on the squad in hits, runs scored and stolen bases. Masamoto
was even better as a sophomore, leading the team in hits, runs,
total bases and on-base percentage, while establishing a new
school-mark with 25 stolen bases, which ranked second among Little
East Conference players. Following an arm injury, the Japanese
import was relegated to a designated hitter role and excelled, with
a .336 batting average, which led to his distinction of becoming
the first player in school history to be selected as a Little East
Conference First Team All-Star. He matched the feat a year later in
his second year as the team's captain when he was named to the LEC
First Team as a second baseman after ranking third among the
league's leaders with a then school-record .425 batting average.
Masamoto also placed among the league's top five in hits, runs
scored and stolen bases, while maintaining a .455 on-base
percentage. He finished his career as UMass Boston's career leader
in at-bats (533), runs (124), hits (177), stolen bases (60) and
times being hit by a pitch (21), while standing 10th with a career
batting mark of .332. Masamoto also ranks second with 138 games
played, 91 runs batted in, 30 doubles, 47 bases on balls, 236 total
bases, seven triples and 266 assists. Following his 2001 graduation
from the Harbor campus, Masamoto secured stints with Major League
Baseball's Colorado Rockies and Chicago Cubs as their minor league
strength and conditioning coordinator before taking on his current
role as the Cubs' major league video coordinator.